Who should consider PLDD?

This procedure is specifically designed for patients with disc problems accompanied by the following:

• Severe leg, arm, neck or lower back pain.
  
  
• Pain that has not responded to six weeks of conservative treatments, e.g., bed rest, medications or physical therapy.
  
  
• Herniated lumbar discs confirmed by x-ray studies that may include one or more of the following:
  
  
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
  • CAT Scanning
  • Myelography
  • Discography

Who should NOT consider PLDD:

This procedure is not specifically designed for the following:

• Patients who have pain not caused by a herniated disc.
  
  
• Patients with arthritis of the spinal joints, or bone spurs that may cause a similar type of pain.
  
  
• Patients who have large fragments of nuclear material outside the annulus.
  
  
• Patients who have severe spinal stenosis due only to build-up of bone in the spinal canal; patients who have spinal stenosis due to disc bulging, the most common kind, ARE TREATABLE with PLDD.
  
  
• Patients with second or third degree spondylolisthesis.
  
  
• Patients who have cancer in the spine.

Next Page: Statistical Summary of Procedures